Above The Sky

Chapter 2161 - 62: Like a Lighthouse, Illuminating Every Path into the Unknown Night

Year 784 of Terra, March 7th, 22:00 at night.

Azure Sky Royal Court, Moving Royal Court.

In the past few years, the Azure Sky Royal Court has completely reversed its centuries-old tradition and opened the Moving Royal Court to Ordinary people from the various tribes within the Royal Court’s territory, as well as to foreign citizens who have obtained permission to visit.

What used to be a place that only Nobles and Sublimators could set foot on after political vetting has now become one of the hottest tourist attractions in the Whole Terra. For a time, tourists from within the Azure Sky Royal Court and from all over the world arrived in an endless stream, greatly boosting national cohesion, with cultural promotion reaching a peak.

In the past, the reason the Moving Royal Court sealed its whereabouts and moved in secret was to avoid being directly struck by powerful individuals from other nations once they locked onto its position.

Although the Royal Court had its own defensive methods, they ultimately could not compare to the Imperial Capital of the Setar Empire or the Elves’ World Tree City, nor could it be like Steep Ridge Fortress with Apocalypse Armament, or Far Shore Island, which would simply blow itself up if you attacked it, making the whole continent suffer together. It was also unlike the fragmented main cities of Fiery Flame Land, where you wouldn’t even know which one to strike. It was not even as good as the Dwarves’ Ambitious City, making it the easiest capital to destroy among the major powers.

Now, however, because of the Perpetual Engine Declaration, the capitals of all the great nations no longer fear direct strikes, and thus one after another they have opened up.

Seen as a whole, the Moving Royal Court actually looks like an especially flat spinning top. Its very bottom is only a little over six hundred square meters, while the entire floating outer residential belt of the city covers nearly eight thousand square kilometers, forming a perfect circle with a diameter of one hundred kilometers.

Because it is so perfectly regular, the Azure Sky Royal Court has held many related events in the years since it opened, the grandest of which is the "Full Royal Court Circuit Run."

A total distance of three hundred and fourteen kilometers, a long-distance race in which no Sublimation Power can be used and only pure Body strength is allowed—this counts as a challenge even for Terra People. Ordinary participants take about six to eight hours to complete the course, while those with excellent athletic ability—especially Demihumans of the Pegasus Lineage, who combine speed and endurance—are the perennial champions of this event.

Without using Sublimation Power, non-Sublimator Demihumans of the Pegasus Lineage can even reach speeds of eighty to ninety kilometers per hour and maintain them for twelve hours. If they become Sublimators, it grows even more terrifying: regardless of Bloodline, their speed and endurance are greatly enhanced, and they can even break the 300 km/h barrier with their Bodies alone, making the Great Khan’s Nightmare Iron Cavalry not need warhorses at all, able to travel from any point on the grasslands to any other within a single day and launch horrific raids.

However, after Armor Suits appeared, more and more Demihumans other than Pegasus began to appear among the Nightmare Iron Cavalry. After all, Armor Suits mainly depend on piloting skill; physical fitness is still important, but ultimately not that important.

By now, among the two thousand two hundred and seventy-four Iron Cavalry troopers, only seven hundred and twenty-nine are of Pegasus descent; the others are Demihumans of other lineages. The Glory is still there, but it has become merely a means for a few Pegasus families’ generals to maintain their influence.

This Royal Court Circuit Run event also somewhat reminds the Royal Court People of the Glory of the Nightmare Iron Cavalry in years past, and tourists greatly enjoy this event as well—if nothing else, those athletes, regardless of race, all have well-proportioned, healthy, and strong bodies. Given that Terra People are on average handsome men and beautiful women, watching any sporting event is practically a form of enjoyment.

Most importantly, the Royal Court’s tourism department has done an excellent job on the service side: the grass along the Royal Court track is lush and green, the buildings are simple and aesthetically pleasing, tourists can drive themselves or ride bicycles to follow the athletes, and along the way there is cheap ice cream (matcha–milk–chocolate flavor is the most popular) and all sorts of specialty snacks.

Spend half a day circling the Royal Court together with the athletes, and you can see the vast majority of sightseeing spots in the Moving Royal Court, enjoy over ninety percent of the local delicacies, and feast both your eyes and your stomach.

Moreover, if you are lucky enough, you can even get up close to the legendary Nightmare Iron Cavalry—every race is escorted along the way by a squad of twenty-four Nightmare Armor Suits. Under orders from the new Great Khan, they do not drive away tourists who come close and are even happy to talk about their past experiences and battles.

Of course, it’s not just track events like long-distance and sprint running. The Azure Sky Royal Court has organized virtually all the sporting events commonly seen among Humans, including swimming, weightlifting, ball games, free fighting, and Armor Suit piloting, and so on.

All kinds of Demihumans display their strength in different sports, leaving many tourists who come to the Azure Sky Royal Court stunned—they never imagined that Demihumans "just like them" could possess such unbelievable advantages in specific events.

The explosive power of the Leopard People, the strength of the Elephant People and a Person from Milos, the swimming ability of the Shark People...

This is perhaps why, among the four universally acknowledged outer races, the pre-epoch civilization still retained Demihuman modification: those unique advantages are indeed hard to catch up to through acquired effort.

This series of events, forming a grand sports meet, has even invited delegations from the Terra Nations, with most of the athletes being professionals who have not reached the First Energy Level, but have achieved the "non-Sublimator human limit" via the Arcane Pathway.

Demihumans may have great advantages, but those advantages are not necessarily greater than the acquired growth brought by the Arcane Pathway.

As long as one’s own technology and training methods are up to par, it is enough to surpass the Demihumans’ advantages and seize the championship.